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The Wake
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Mastergeehy's bell continued to ring across the Valley of Cummeragh, calling the people to Colm Gilchrist's Requiem Mass. Only the day before had Colm returned home for the last time. O'Connell's Undertakers in Cahirciveen brought Colm to the valley on a horse drawn carriage. As he passed by Mastergeehy Church, Father Kennedy raised his hand in a blessing...Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord!
O'Connell's continued down the road until road until they reached the Gilchrist cottage. Seamus had returned about an hour before from Waterville and was out front watching the carriage approach. As it drew neared, he went inside and called him mother and family out to meet the casket containing their father. As the undertaker pulled in front of the gate, Seamus stepped out and helped tie the horse's rope to the fence. He then went to the read of the carriage and, as his mother an family watched, he unhitched the rear door of the carriage. With a nod to Mr. O'Connell, he started to pull his father's casket from the carriage. Two of his neighbors stepped forward to help Seamus and the undertaker carry the casket into the Gilchrist cottage.
With great care, they set the casket on the boxes Seamus had prepared and his mother had covered with her prized pure linen tablecloth. With the neighbors watching silently outside, the family entered the home and stood to the rear of the family room. Margaret went up to the undertaker and quietly asked him,
"Can I see him, Please?"
Mr. O'Connell gently patted her shoulder and replied,
"Then just give me a moment and I'll remove the lid."
As he stepped towards the casket, Seamus went right behind him and when the cover of the casket was removed; he took the lid and set it against the wall, to the right of the fireplace. Margaret stepped forward and began to cry. When she saw Colm's face peacefully peeking out of the shroud, he bent over and kissed him on the forehead,
"O Colm, dear Colm! Colm! Colm! Dear Colm!"
Seamus stepped forward and hugged his mother, all the while gazing at his father's face. He too bent over and kissed his father's lifeless face and then turned to his brothers and sisters to see if they wanted to come and see their father for one last time.
Tomas, the youngest shook his head, but Yvonne, Martin, Paul, and Breda stepped forward. Yvonne made the Sign of the Cross, kissed her fingers and then touched her father's forehead. Martin and Paul traced a tiny cross on his father's forehead and then blessed themselves, while Breda just stood on her tiptoes and looked for a moment at her father before running back to Tomas.
"If you like," Seamus said, "We'll be saying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary for my Pa."
Seamus then knelt before his father casket, took his rosary out of his pocket, and making the Sign of the Cross with the crucifix he began, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!" The neighbors outside the cottage knelt where they were and joined in the prayer. They wondered what Margaret Gilchrist would do now. She had a fine family, but how would she feed all of these mouths? What was her plan. Margaret knew what her plan was and throughout the Rosary she watched Seamus thinking, "Ah, he's a good boy. He's a very good boy."
When he finished the Rosary, Seamus stood up and his family and everyone else followed suit. He looked at the undertaker and raised his eyebrows in a questioning sort of way. The undertaker nodded his head and stepped to the casket with his hammer and some nails. Seamus took the lid of the casket and started to place it one last time on his father's casket. His mother stepped forward, stroked the side of Colm's face, and prayed,
"Colm, dear Colm, may the angels lead to the Gates of Heaven!"
Seamus quietly said,
"Bye, Pa! We'll be ok."
His brothers and sisters shook their heads indicating that they did not want to come for this final farewell. So Seamus gently laid the lid in place and Mr. O'Connell stepped to the casket and began to nail the lid shut. It was hard to listen to the sound of the hammering. Breda started to cry and then her brothers and sisters did the same. Tears welled up in Seamus' eyes, but he wiped them away, hopping that nobody saw him.
When the undertaker finished his work, Seamus looked around the room for the two neighbors who had helped him carry his father into the house. Now he needed their help to carry his father back to the carriage for the trip to Mastergeehy Church. Bridget McGinty saw him looking for the other pallbearers and she shoved her two eldest sons and told them to go and do this last act of kindness for Colm.
Standing on the right front side of the casket, Seamus asked Brian McGinty, his best friend, to stand on the left front of the casket. The undertaker and Harry McGinty were to the rear of the casket. The undertaker cleared his throat and they all gently lifted the casket and carried it towards the door. People stepped aside to make way for this final journey of Colm from his beloved home. They crossed themselves, praying "Good-bye, Colm! God be with you, Colm! God rest your soul, Colm!"
Slowly, ever so slowly Colm's casket was carried to the horse carriage. Brian McGinty and Seamus gently lifted the casket onto the carriage. Seamus quickly got behind the casket so that he could push it all the way back. As she cried, Margaret Gilchrist waved her rosary at the carriage and mouthed, "Good-bye, Colm, good-bye!"
The undertaker thanked Seamus for his help and said that he would bring his father up to Mastergeehy Church. Seamus hopped on the bed of the carriage, next to his father's casket, and quietly said,
"I'll ride back here with my Pa."
Mr. O'Connell looked questioningly over to Margaret Gilchrist and she nodded her approval. He then tipped his hat to Margaret, untied the horse, climbed onto the driver's seat, and began the sad trip to Mastergeehy Church. As they passed other neighbors who were not able to come to the Gilchrist cottage, men removed their hats, women crossed themselves, and many a prayer was quickly offered for the soul of Colm Gilchrist.
When the carriage arrived at the road leading up to Mastergeehy Church, Father Kennedy was waiting for them. He waved to the sexton and the bell began to toll
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Father Kennedy motioned for the help of several older boys and as the carriage drew up in front of the church, Seamus mouthed a simple "Thanks, guys!"
Seamus waited for the undertaker to remove the rear of the carriage. He then jumped down and began to gently pull his father's casket from the bed of the carriage. Again, Seamus took the lead and asked Tom Dailey, Liam McCarthy, and Freddy Burns, neighbors of his, to help him carry his father into the church. Mr. O'Connell led the way up the main aisle of the church. The few people who were waiting at Mastergeehy followed behind the casket. By now, Father Kennedy had already put on his surplice and black stole and had his prayer book in hand. A little altar boy stood to his right with the holy water bucket. Mr. O'Connell stood in front of the catafalque and guided Seamus and his friends as they ever so carefully moved between the six tall beeswax tapers. Seamus remained standing behind the casket, while Tom, Liam, and Freddy moved into the pews. Father Kennedy made the Sing of the Cross and mumbled, so it seemed to Seamus, some Latin prayers. He then sprinkled the casket with the holy water. When he was finished he went to Seamus and gently put his hand on his shoulder and said,
"Ok, Seamus, we'll take care of your daddy now. The wake isn't for about five more hours. We'll be ringing the bell when we're ready. You go now and take care of your mother. She'll be needing you."
Seamus nodded his head, wiped a tear from his eyes, made the Sign of the Cross and bent over and kissed his father casket, saying yet again,
"Good-be, Pa! I love you!"
Back out in front of the church, the undertaker offered to take Seamus back to his home, but he refused him, saying that he and his friends were going to walk.
"Ok, then, I'll see you tomorrow."
With that the undertaker climbed onto the driver's seat of the carriage and headed down the hill on his way back to Cahirciveen. Meanwhile, Tom, Freddy, and Liam came out of the church and Seamus called them over.
"So, can you walk with me home?"
As they headed down the hill to the road crossing the Valley of Cummeragh, Father Kennedy raised his hands in a blessing over the boys and wondered what Margaret Gilchrist was going to do now. Well, he'd be praying for her, for sure!
As Seamus approached his cottage with his friends, he could hear people talking and enjoying a little supper. He came into the family room and smiled at his neighbors and friends and went over to the table were a veritable feast had been laid out. He motioned to his friends who were nervously standing at the door and told them,
"Come on! If you don't help us eat this tuff, I guess that we will just have to feed it to the pigs! Come on! Eat!"
The boys took plates and picked among lots of bowls and pans of different foods. Too many people were squeezed into the house, so they went outside and sat on the lawn to enjoy their meal. Amongst themselves they said that that felt funny having a good time at a funeral like this, but this what Seamus and his family were doing and so they figured that they might as well enjoy themselves.
The sun began to set and the Gilchrist neighbors quickly cleaned up the mess and assured Margaret and her family that they would see them up at the church for the wake. Margaret told the children to go upstairs and put on clean clothes. Before she could say anything , Seamus, cried out,
"And wash your hands all of you!"
Seamus turned and grinned at his mother and she said,
"And you wash your hands too before I paddle you good on the behind!"
"If you can catch me!" Seamus playfully cried out! With that he ran upstairs as his mother smiled and tried to paddle him on the behind with her broom.
By half six Margaret realized that she needed to get everyone going onto Mastergeehy Church and so she called upstairs,
"Come on now, all of you! We can't be late for your poor, sainted father's wake we! Get moving now!"
With that the Gilchrist Family gathered in the family room and Margaret made sure that they all looked decent.
"Ok, you all look so beautiful! Your father would be proud of you for sure! Of we go now."
With that they headed out the door and began the walk to Mastergeehy Church. Just then Liam McCarthy and his family came up in their carriage and offered the Gilchrist family a ride to the Church. As they turned left up the hill to the church, Margaret gasped,
"Oh, my God! Look at this will you now!"
The field in front of Mastergeehy Church was packed with carriages and bicycles and all sorts of transportation. It seemed like everyone had come to the church for Colm's wake. Mabel Povey was playing the small organ that Father Kennedy had recently obtained for the Church. As the Gilchrist family moved to the front of the church, their friends reached and touched Margaret and held up their rosaries, gestured towards the casket lying there on the catafalque, and indicated that they were praying for Colm. Margaret mouthed her thanks to each and everyone one. She saw many people that she knew and many that she did not know. She figured that they must be people that Colm had worked for in his years as a carpenter in County Kerry. When she got to the front of the Church, she genuflected and ushered her children into the front pew. As she was going to sit down herself, she was surprised as she saw the Church of Ireland minister in Cahirciveen come into Mastergeehy Church. She wondered what he was doing here in a Catholic Church. Evidently many in Mastergeehy Church that evening wondered the same thing. People began to whisper and point at the minister. Margaret walked back to him with a look on her face that told the minister she did not understand why he was there.
He put out his hand and gently said,
"Mrs. Gilchrist! I am so sorry to hear about your Colm. He did some repairs in my parsonage last year and I have never seen better work! He was a good man and so I wanted to come and pay my respects tonight, if you don't mind!"
"Of course not, Parson. You are most welcome! Please come and sit with my family."
The minister tried to refuse her, but Margaret made sure he understood that she would not take no for an answer. He moved to the end of the pew and sat down. When Father Kennedy came out of the sacristy to begin the Rosary his eyes opened wide as he saw the Church of Ireland minister sitting in his church and wondered what was going on. Margaret mouthed to him that it was all right and so Father Kennedy waved to his two altar boys and they moved a kneeler in front of the casket. Father Kennedy knelt down and in his powerful yet gentle voice began the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. To Seamus and his family it was an awesome thing to hear all of these people praying together for their father. Even though they felt so sad that their father had died, they felt so good that they had all of these friends right there with them.
As the rosary continued, people kept trying to steal a glance at the Church of Ireland minister. They wondered what he thought of all of these Hail Marys. They expected that he was going to frown and indicate his disapproval. However, he just sat there int he pew and respectfully listened to what was being said around him. He did not know what to do, but he smiled when Margaret looked at him and again thanked him for coming to the wake.
When the Rosary was finished, Father Kennedy stood and reminded the people that Colm's Requiem Mass would be at half ten tomorrow morning.
"And when we're finished in church, we'll be going to Old Dromod Cemetery to lay Colm to rest next to his father. His son Seamus here dug the grave himself. He's been a godsend to his mother these terrible days, he has."
Seamus buried his head in his hands and wishes that he could just run out of the church and not listen to what Father Kennedy was saying. But he knew that if he moved even an inch his mother really would paddle him harder than he could imagine and he wasn't going to risk such a thing.
When Father Kennedy gave his blessing the people in Mastergeehy Church stood and, while Mabel Povey played the organ, sang "Faith of our Fathers." The Church of Ireland minister winced as the words "and Ireland shall then truly be free." He thought that Ireland was free, but then he knew deep down, that the Catholic people did not feel that way. Well, he thought, they are entitled to their own opinions.
People left Mastergeehy Church returned to their homes. Besides talking about the calm dignity of Margaret Gilchrist and her family, they were amazed that the Protestant minister had come, had dared to come, into their church. What was the world coming to, they wondered? However, when they remembered how Margaret had so graciously welcomed him that they felt ashamed and dared hope that maybe some good would come out of Colm's untimely death.
When they reached her cottage, Margaret and her family thanked the McCarthys for taking them to the wake and gratefully accepted their offer to ride with them to the Requiem Mass the next morning. Before she could say anything, Seamus ran upstairs to his room and closed the door shut. After racing through an "Our Father", Seamus took off his clothes and jumped into bed. Tomorrow was going to be the longest day of his life and he wanted to be ready for it.